Gates Foundation announces $3.4 million in grants to help libraries provide broadband access

Gates Foundation announces grants for libraries

SEATTLE — The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is announcing $3.4 million in grants to help libraries in five states improve broadband Internet access.

Libraries in Arkansas, Kansas, Massachusetts, New York and Virginia will get money to improve and maintain Internet connections in local libraries.

The foundation also announced Tuesday that it will be helping another 14 states compete for federal money for improving Internet access. The money is being offered as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

A recent American Library Association study reports that 60 percent of all public libraries report their current Internet speed is insufficient. And nearly 40 percent of Americans still don’t have high-speed Internet access at home.